I officially proclaim that Government of the City Of Houston has officially gone "F***ing Insane" with this proposal.

Lets see, pay an Applicant $3000.00 to pay off debts and up their Credit Score.

Applicant gets Mortgage and gets a House.

A year later applicant defaults on Loan and House goes into Foreclosure.

(Whats next Applicant joins ACORN and burglarizes the house he gets evicted from?)

Houston taxpayers could start footing the bill to help first-time homebuyers pay off debts and improve their credit scores, under a proposal before City Council this week.

The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers.

The proposal has aroused critics who say the city should not use public funds to help people pay down car loans, credit card balances, or other debts — even if the slight credit bump would help them realize the dream of home- ownership.
Anti-tax activists also cited the harsh lessons of the housing crash and recession.

“I just don’t see any way someone could justify this with everything that has gone on in the credit market,” said Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. “This is precisely what got us into it, with the playing fast and loose with the credit score.”

“One would think from the federal problem we’ve just had, the city of Houston officials would have learned from that,” said Peggy Venable, state director of Americans for Prosperity, a limited government advocacy group. “It’s a bad idea.”

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6277344.html

Ridiculous.

Home prices are dropping already...that means these folks will get a better deal by waiting. They'll owe less, they'll make their own payments...

Rents are dropping. These folks can continue to wait. Not only will they get a better deal, they'll be able to save faster in the interim.

The FREE MARKET is already solving this issue (problem if you think that home ownership somehow became a right) let it do its damn job!

Isn't this how we got into trouble to begin with - people buying what they shouldn't be buying?

Where do I sign up to get in on this action?

The Great American Give Away. If you can't afford it, don't feel bad, we will give it to you.

(02-24-2009 03:41 PM)GrayBeard Wrote:  The Great Liberal Give Away. If you can't afford it, don't feel bad, we will give it to you.

I fixed it for ya...

(02-24-2009 03:41 PM)GrayBeard Wrote:  The Great American Give Away. If you can't afford it, don't feel bad, we will confiscate it from someone who was responsible and give it to you.

Fixed.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Mayor Bill White has dropped the proposal.

The whole idea caught hell on talk radio this afternoon. White is planning to run for the US Senate in 2010 when KBH comes back to run for Governor against Rick Perry.

Add this to the list of White's other past "great ideas" including inviting 3/4 of New Orleans to move to Houston after Katrina.

Mayor Bill White this afternoon announced that a plan for the city to pay off some debts for first-time home buyers has been pulled from tomorrow's City Council agenda.

Council members are now professing their "embarrassment" about the proposal, which has hit the national news circuit, including drudgereport.com., which picked up this morning's Houston Chronicle story about the plan

"This issue has hit a nerve across this country," said Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck. "Not just here in the city of Houston. Giving people the ability to increase their credit score artificially because we're allowing them to pay off their credit cards is exactly what got us into this (national economic) crisis in the first place."

Councilman Jarvis Johnson said the city should continue to help people move from renting to owning.

"But I do believe we can do it in a better way, a more thoughtful way," he said. "But we don't want to become enablers, where people count on the city to be the cure-all."

The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” would have given up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers.

The proposal aroused critics who say the city should not use public funds to help people pay down car loans, credit card balances, or other debts — even if the slight credit bump would help them realize the dream of home- ownership.

“We just can’t give away government money to help people with their credit scores,” Councilman Mike Sullivan said Monday. “You’re giving them other taxpayers’ money to pay off the bills.”

Clutterbuck called the program well-intentioned, but said it would have gone too far.

“If this credit crisis has taught us anything, we need to focus on paying off our debts and saving more,” she said. “Using government money to help someone pay off their debts is not the same as asking them to pay off their debts themselves.”

The $444,000 proposed for the program is leftover money from a $1.5 million appropriation the city made for emergency home and roof repairs after Hurricane Ike.

The city has three programs that provide grants for down payments and closing costs for qualified homebuyers. The most generous one offers a $37,500 grant to buy a home that costs $135,000 or less, but only in certain disadvantaged Houston neighborhoods the city is trying to revitalize. Participants cannot earn more than 80 percent of the Houston median income.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6277344.html

(02-24-2009 06:37 PM)WMD Owl Wrote:  The city has three programs that provide grants for down payments and closing costs for qualified homebuyers. The most generous one offers a $37,500 grant to buy a home that costs $135,000 or less, but only in certain disadvantaged Houston neighborhoods the city is trying to revitalize. Participants cannot earn more than 80 percent of the Houston median income.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6277344.html

Oh, gotta love this. I mean who'd want to revitalize an area by putting in people w/ good jobs? Those are the very same people who show initiative, who improve the world and their lot in life. They might be able to pay their bills, keep their homes safe and attractive, and patronize local businesses so they stay in business.

Good job Houston city officials, make sure you keep giving money away to people who haven't earned it. Then you'll always have major problems and job security for you.

(02-25-2009 08:58 AM)DrTorch Wrote:  

(02-24-2009 06:37 PM)WMD Owl Wrote:  The city has three programs that provide grants for down payments and closing costs for qualified homebuyers. The most generous one offers a $37,500 grant to buy a home that costs $135,000 or less, but only in certain disadvantaged Houston neighborhoods the city is trying to revitalize. Participants cannot earn more than 80 percent of the Houston median income.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6277344.html

Oh, gotta love this. I mean who'd want to revitalize an area by putting in people w/ good jobs? Those are the very same people who show initiative, who improve the world and their lot in life. They might be able to pay their bills, keep their homes safe and attractive, and patronize local businesses so they stay in business.

Good job Houston city officials, make sure you keep giving money away to people who haven't earned it. Then you'll always have major problems and job security for you.

Out this way some of the more crime ridden cities give low cost mortgages to policemen who move into the city they work in. Not many take them and I don't blame them. I've never seen a city improve impoverished areas by getting responsible people to move into them. The only way to do it is with a bulldozer and rebuilding from the ground up. This could be a good argument for eminent domain.

A city a few miles away bulldozes houses that are dragging down certain areas and doesn't let anyone rebuild them. When enough are gone a bunch of new houses will be built all at once. The theory is there's strength in numbers and if you live next to a nice house you might keep up the appearance of yours..

Rick Perry is accepting bailout money, but Houston must have money to spare.